May I present Curtis. Sometimes, when ordering takeout, he’ll use a name other than his own. It’s a lie he’s grown accustomed to telling.

~

Hi, this is Curtis. Can you believe he didn’t want to come here tonight?

Ravi Mangla is the author of the novel Understudies (Outpost19). His stories have appeared in Mid-American Review, The Collagist, American Short Fiction, Barrelhouse, and Corium Magazine. He lives in Rochester, New York.